A man appeared in court in the north on Monday after having been arrested at the Ayios Dhometios crossing point by the Turkish Cypriot police for attempting to cross to the police with a large quantity of various food items.
The man was arrested at around 10.35am on Sunday after a police search of his vehicle at the crossing point uncovered the haul.
Inside his car, there was 20 kilogrammes of beef, 20kg of rohu fish, 20kg of Pangasius fish, 12 litres of mustard oil, 24 boxes of cereal, 12kg of turmeric powder and 24 chilli peppers.
The Green Line regulation allows for small amounts of some products to be crossed from between Cyprus’ two sides under some specific circumstances, though the man had fulfilled none of the requisite criteria.
The crossing of meat is prohibited under all circumstances, while fish can be crossed for commercial purposes if an accompanying document from the Turkish Cypriot chamber of commerce is presented and the crossing of chilli peppers, technically a fruit, is also prohibited.
The other items the man attempted to take to the north are typically permitted in small quantities, though these quantities were greatly exceeded in this case.
Police officer Emre Koyun told the court on Monday that an investigation into the matter had been launched and that the man is a Turkish Cypriot, has been living in the north continuously for the last 19 years and is married with two children.
Judge Zehra Nuray Necdet banned the man from travelling abroad until his trial and ordered that he be released on a 20,000TL (€527) bail provided that two guarantors both sign bonds worth 200,000TL (€5,270) and that he present himself to his nearest police station every two weeks.
